Kristin's Bookshelf

📖 What She Saw
✍️ By Mary Burton
🎤 Narrated by Samara Naeymi (Samantha Brentmoor), James Anderson Foster, Andrew Eiden, Patrick Lawlor
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Ugh… I’m definitely struggling to write this review because I wanted to love this book so badly. Unfortunately, it just never fully pulled me in. The story felt like it dragged at times, and when the finale arrived, it seemed to come out of nowhere. I wanted the ending to feel more earned and believable.

Sloane, as the main character, was difficult for me to connect with. She came across as bitter toward people with money and, honestly, plenty of people without it too. At times, her anger seemed to be directed at the wrong people, which made her reactions feel frustrating rather than understandable. The only person she consistently seemed to like was Grant, and I found myself wishing for a little more depth and warmth from her throughout the story even though that just wasn’t who she was.

The narration, however, was excellent. With a cast like Samara Naeymi, James Anderson Foster, Andrew Eiden, and Patrick Lawlor, it’s hard to go wrong. I wouldn’t have complained about getting more of Andrew Eiden as Joe Keller, although his single chapter left me confused. I relistened to it because I thought I had missed something, but it still didn’t quite click for me. If it was intended as a red herring, it didn’t really land. I felt Laurie was developed more effectively through Sheriff Taggart’s and Sloane’s perspectives than in his chapter.

Overall, this had a strong true crime feel and is likely to resonate with readers who enjoy a slower-paced, methodical mystery. While it wasn’t the right fit for me, I can absolutely see it finding the right audience.